The Imminence of the Establishment of the Hour

Chapter

Muslim recorded in his Sahih:

Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah and Abu Kurayb narrated to us, both saying: Abu Usamah narrated to us, from Hisham, from his father, from 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: Whenever the bedouins came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), they would ask him about the Hour. He would look at the youngest person among them and say:

"If this one lives, he will not be overtaken by extreme old age before your Hour is established."

Muslim (may Allah have mercy on him) was solitary in reporting it.

Muslim said: Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us: Yunus ibn Muhammad narrated to us, from Hammad ibn Salamah, from Thabit, from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), that a man asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): "When will the Hour be established?" And there was a young boy from the Ansar with him named Muhammad. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

"If this boy lives, it may be that extreme old age will not overtake him before the Hour is established."

Muslim was solitary in reporting it through this chain of transmission.

Muslim said: And Hajjaj ibn al-Sha'ir narrated to me: Sulayman ibn Harb narrated to us: Hammad, meaning Ibn Zayd, narrated to us: Ma'bad ibn Hilal al-'Anazi narrated to us, from Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him),

that a man asked the Prophet (ﷺ), saying: "When will the Hour be established?" He said: The Prophet (ﷺ) remained silent, then he looked at a young boy before him from the tribe of Azd Shanu'ah and said:

"If this one is granted a long life, extreme old age will not overtake him before the Hour is established."

Anas said: That boy was among my peers at that time. Muslim was also solitary in reporting it through this chain.

Muslim said: Harun ibn 'Abdullah narrated to us: 'Affan ibn Muslim narrated to us: Hammam narrated to us: Qatadah narrated to us, from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: A young servant belonging to al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah passed by, and he was of my age, so the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

"If this one is granted delay in life, extreme old age will not overtake him before the Hour is established."

And al-Bukhari narrated it from 'Amr ibn 'Asim, from Hammam with this chain.

These narrations indicate the recurrence of this question and answer. What is meant is not specifying the exact timing of the Great Hour to the time of that indicated person's old age. Rather, what is meant is that 'their hour', which is the extinction of their generation and their era, would at most reach the lifespan of that young boy, as previously explained. And in the hadith:

"You ask me about the Hour, but its knowledge is only with Allah. By Allah, there is no living soul upon the earth today that will see a hundred years."

This is corroborated by the narration of 'A'ishah:

"Your hour has already been established upon you."

That is because whoever dies has already entered into the ruling of the Resurrection; for the realm of the Barzakh (intermediate realm) is adjacent to the realm of the Day of Resurrection, and while it retains aspects of this worldly life, it resembles the Hereafter more closely. Then, when the appointed term for this worldly life comes to an end, Allah will command the establishment of the Hour, and the earlier and later generations will be gathered for the appointed time of a known Day, as the explanation of that will follow from the Book and the Sunnah, and Allah is the source of all assistance.